Acts 17:24
"Ko te Atua, nana nei i hanga te ao me nga mea katoa i roto, ko ia nei te Ariki o te rangi, o te whenua, e kore ia e noho ki nga whare i hanga e te ringa;..."
"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands."
"O le Atua na faia le lalolagi ma mea uma lava o i ai, ona o le Alii o ia o le lagi ma le lalolagi, e le afio o ia i malumalu e faia e lima;..."
What does this say about God?
God creates everything.
God—for his own glory, out of his own good—makes the physical universe and everything in it. Matter matters.
There is a clear sense of totality here. Paul is saying that God has created everything—from the living organisms moving under an electron microscope to the stars thousands of light years away... they’ve all been created by God.
This God, because he has created everything, he is the Lord, the owner, ruler and master of everything in the heavens and the earth.
Everything is under his ownership; everything happens under his rule. There are no “gods” other than this God. He alone is to be worshipped. He alone is worthy of our worship.
Because God reigns over the whole universe he cannot be domesticated — not even by temples (v. 24). He is so much bigger than that.
By implication what does it say about Aotearoa, NZ?
God made New Zealand!
New Zealand has been created by God. His creating power formed New Zealand's landmass. His providential care ordained its current location.
God has used these islands' isolation from the rest of the world to develop our incredibly distinctive flora and fauna. 80% of our flora—our trees, grasses and forest—are unique to New Zealand. From the mighty kauri towering over our forests to the flightless kiwi.
Everything that exists within our 18,000 kilometres of coastline has been created by God and for him.
A popular slogan says that Aotearoa New Zealand is 'God's own' or 'Godzone'. I’m grateful that Acts 17 shows me that Aotearoa New Zealand is truly God owned.
What a privilege it is to point the peoples of these islands to the God who made the land and seas, to the one who holds all things together. What a joy to know that through the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ we can truly know God and be made right before him.
By Mark Grace, CCCNZ Ambassador
News from Churches and Camps
Au uso Kerisiano Church Papakura
Based on Matthew 5:13-16, young adults at the Au uso Kerisiano Church, Papakura led an unforgettable time of worship, prayer and challenge to live out the gospel.
For Youth leader Linda Vaoga it was "a joy to see after all their hard work". Pastor Fatu Tuu said the speakers integrated the words of the worship songs into the message.
They gave a great message. Following Jesus and obeying his call is about being salt and light to all.
Whitiora Bible Church News
Whitiora Bible Church is located in the middle of 18 motels currently being used for emergency housing, which impacts massively on the needs of their community and the local school.
This is the second year in which they go into the local school and provide breakfast for any child who wishes to attend. Around 30-40 children attend each morning and many are regulars.
Pauline Diffey writes: "It is a privilege to show God’s love to these children through providing them breakfast and being able to interact with them before they head to classes".
Roanne McEwan shared with us that the connections built through the breakfast club have flowed onto Whitiora Bible Church being able to sponsor some of the school children to attend the school holiday camp at Karakariki Christian Camp in the second week of the last winter holidays.
We love to see churches engaging with their communities and working together with camps to share the gospel.
Worship Workshop at Kelston Community Church
On Sunday 23 July, worship ministry leader Paul Naveen and a handful of great trainers from Kelston Community Church (KCC) in Auckland led a memorable worship ministry development workshop (the first of four planned).
Their more experienced musicians and singers train and coach the less experienced and those interested in being part of the KCC worship ministry.
After lunch together, five different workshops covering piano, keyboard, guitar, vocals, and AV were run concurrently. Then everyone returned to combine and practise what they had learnt.
Pastor Paul Long said it "was wonderful to see so many young and old enjoying themselves learning and worshipping".
Marsden Bay Christian Camp Engaging With The Community
On Saturday 22 July, Marsden Bay Christian Camp (MBCC) invited all their neighbours to gather together—those whose properties back onto the camp and on the other side of the road. There were over 30 in attendance.
Marsden Bay Christian Camp Chair, Ian Rowe, welcomed everybody and talked about the history of MBCC from 1956 and the reasons why it was initially purchased and built.
Trevor Kerewaro, MBCC Manager, talked about the camp ethos and its Christian roots and principles. Matt Scott then spoke about the role of kids camps, what they get up to and their purpose.
The Camping Project
Richard Davis, CCCNZ Camping Enabler, writes:
In March this year, a Camping Hui was held for the chairs of the Christian camps in our movement.
The hui was an opportunity to discuss potential improvements and opportunities for the future, with a desire to become far more church centric in our camping model.
Over the past four months, a lot of foundational discussions have carried on as a follow-up to the hui. Last week, over 75 people from camp boards, support trusts and churches attended a webinar where an update on progress was provided.
Ian McBride, Lichfield Lands Chair, spoke candidly on some of the difficulties that camps are experiencing and on the opportunities we have when working together.
I had the privilege to speak on the discussions that we have had one-on-one with camp boards but also some of the early discussions we have had with church leaders. These have been based on what a strong partnership between churches and camps could look like.
The exciting outcome is that as churches seek to renew their vision for the community where God has placed them in, so there is a desire for our campsites to be used to support that same church vision.
Other speakers at the webinar spoke on the next steps, one of which is to encourage more dialogue with church leaders throughout the country.
It was also great to hear from Graham Ashby, who is collating information for a book detailing 100 years of Christian camps within the movement. This will be a wonderful and powerful publication of God's goodness and blessing.
As we continue this work in seeking how camps can serve our churches and work closely in understanding the vision they have for their community, we would love our church leaders to be a part of this conversation.
We plan on giving you the opportunity to meet and be a part of the discussion, so please look out for those invitations. Feel free to also contact me directly at richardddavis@cccnz.nz.
